I’ll no longer be posting here, instead I’ve moved over to my new site www.davehord.com

It’s live and running now.

-Dave

Despite it being cold enough that I was sure I’d be hypothermic by the time we’d part, it was worth it. You were worth the frostbite to my left index finger…even just for the smile you managed to put on my face in the first 30 seconds we were together.\

The combination of hero dirt, every memorized corner unchanged, and the simple fact that you were the complete opposite to the rest of my afternoon makes it worth it. I promise to visit again soon, that was just too much fun to be away for so long again.

Could you do me one favor though? Just a little more warning about those ice corners would be appreciated.

-Dave

“i think for the most part, if you’re really honest with yourself about what you want most out of life…life gives it to you. “

This one scared me at first, the metal bit on the right was stuck to the magnetic drain plug. Took me a while, but I think it’s the rivet off the oil screen. With the way the engine is sitting at the moment, I can’t pop the screen out to see what’s going on.

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Drove the ‘69 beetle to work this morning, parked, and discovered we had been leaving a bit of a trail.

Don’t quite see it in the cellphone pic? Here, this is under car after 2.5min…

Houston, we have a problem. After work the stain was just a bit larger, but the whole left side of the lower block and engine ancillaries was coated in fresh oil. I had checked the oil two nights ago, and it was just above the mark. Now? about 1.5qts down. When you consider the beetle has a stock oil capacity of 2.4 quarts…that’s pretty significant. Thankfully I have a 2 quart external sump attached to it!

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You play with Cars!

Yes, that’s right, bring on the four-wheeled machines.

If you haven’t yet met my project, what are you doing surfing this website? For obvious reasons it’s my ‘69 Beetle. More on that later though…cuz the project of choice for this evening is Connor’s 1977 MustangII. Purchased at the beginning of the school year, and mildy forgotten for a short while, he’s back at actually getting some work done on it. Hey, everyone needs a break from a project, but we’re back now!

Tonight Connor actually taught himself a skill that I haven’t figured out yet. The art of panel beating removes dents and ripples from sheet metal, using hammers and dollies. You hold the dolly behind the panel you’re attempting to massage, and beat upon the otherside with a small hammer. Connor grabbed the hammers, took a quick verbal lesson from me and proceeded to wipe out two dents from the fender better then I could have. Hmph, that’s annoying!

Winter you say? Bah! That’s just car prep season for another awesome summer!

-Dave

Hmph, August 21st! Geesh…I must have been getting bored with this or something. The last real riding post was middle of July!

Well, never did finish counting how many days I rode, but with 54 on the board and at least 15 in my drafts section…I’d say it’s fairly likely I hit my goal of 100 days of riding. Of course, I didn’t document it, so I’m probably back to trying again next year. Why? Who knows…but it seems like an accomplishment to me to ride 100 days in a year while working full time.

I did reach my original goal for the season though. I set out wanting to ride each of the BC Bike parks, those glorious places which allow you to ride the chairlift to lap after lap of riding goodness. We hit Whistler all the time so it feels like it almost doesn’t count. Mount Washington, Sun Peaks and Panorama or easily taken care of due to the racing schedule. I’m pretty confident that Panorama is my favorite place to ride for racing. It’s a weekend that feels like a fun bro-trip but has an awesome race rolled into it as well. I raced it again this year, but missed the podium by one spot. That left Kicking Horse and Silver Star to finish off my goal for the season. We nailed down Kicking Horse by taking a day of work and stopping in on the Panorama Trip. Pano is 10+ hours from Squamish, and Kicking Horse is just one hour towards home…so it makes perfect sense to combine the two. Connor, Trevor* and I loved it, but agreed that with the upper alpine closed while we were there, it was only good for about a half day. And with that, it was silver star.

Connor joined me for a bro-trip on the final weekend for the ’star. We rode endless laps with little to no lift lines for two days. Berm after Berm after berm. You cannot do any better then SilverStar, and I highly encourage all of you to continue riding the braking bumps at Whistler…leaving the buttery smooth SilverStar for those of us who ‘know’.

Yup, it’s pouring rain in Squamish now, the trails are snowy and we’re into winter. Yee haw…

-Dave

*Apologies to Trevor for forgetting to include him in the original posting. The kicking horse day included Connor, Trevor, Kyle, Craig and I. By my initial recollection Connor and I were the only two who didn’t complain about paying $35 for essentially 3 or 4 laps of the bike park before heading home. Trevor maintains that he was not one of the whining individuals both at the ticket booth and in the suv later…so in fairness I now include him.

It does, however, make me wonder if Connor wasn’t one of the complainers when we initially arrived or during the parking lot picnic lunch. Hmmmmm…

I simply maintain that _I_ did not ONCE complain about the day, the park or the ride.

Your interpretation may vary

So Miranda and I need some new photos…Warwick seems to have the mountain bike itch, and thus a perfect fit seemed to be in order. Off we went to Whistler, and up the Garbonzo Chair. Miranda managed to flat rather quickly into our photo session, so it almost ended up a private session with Warwick. Thank goodness he makes me look good!

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19th night ride with Trevor. Swoot.

-Dave

It’s been a while since I made some music suggestions…so here’s two you need to have on your iPod.

Otis Taylor - Ten Million Slaves
Whether you sit at desk in an office, or a desk in a classroom…if you’re reading here, you are probably day-dreaming about something better. Is it a ride, carving your way down some single track with the boyz? Maybe it’s a drive, twisty roads and following the double line where-ever it leads you. Regardless of what you’re dreaming about…this song would fit as the soundtrack.

YouTube Video with the song

Band of Horses - The Funeral
This song first grabbed us when used with a wicked mountain bike video…but it solidified it’s way into my brain when Eric Bana used it for the teaser to his movie “Love the Beast”. (more on that in a day or two). In the meantime, you need to get a hold of a copy. The rest of the album is pretty good too!

YouTube Music Video

-Dave